Swingable and vertically adjustable bed tray



Sept. 30, 1952 P G SARKUS 2,612,422

SWINGABLE AND VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE BED TRAY Filed Oct. 20, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR. PHILIP G. 5.412105 P 1952 P. G. sARKu 2,612,422

SWINGABLE AND VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE BED TRAY Filed Oct. 20, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR. 511m 1P G.5AR11'U5 RNEY iumTEo STATE "Other objects and advantages. of

Patented Sept. 30, 1952 SWINGABLE AND VERTIQALLY ADJUSJTABLh The. present invention relates to a swing'able and collapsible mounting for a tray which "is particularly Suitable for beds. While trays have been usedin the past with legs, which are adapted to rest on a bed mattress or with means for attachment to posts of'hospital beds and the like, these have the serious disadvantage of being unsightly and not being readily movable out. of sight by the occupant of thefbed, nor adjustably movable. to selective positions overhanging the bed or the space alongside the bed.

An object of the present. invention is to provide afpivotal tray supporting means which will permit a wide range of adjustment of the tray by one lying in bed and useful for supporting f ood; books,

radios or the like, and which is swingablefand.

foldable or collapsible'in a manner so that it is positioned rearwardly of the headboard of the bed and thus completely out of sight when not in A more specific object of the present invention is, to provide a bed tray mounting which is movable from a'horizontal position forwardly of the bed to a vertical position rearwardly of the bed without the need of substantial clearance between the bed and the adjoining side or end wall, and

' which can be easily and quickly moved outo'f sight in' a folded position, by the bed occupant when the tray is no longer in use. v

the present invention will become apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a planview of the bed tray mounting embodying the principles of the present invention and showing the tray in a horizontal position forwardly of the headboardin' position v for use by'the occupant;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view of thevertlcally adjustable mounting for the tray support as viewed from the rear of the headboard upon which it is mounted;

' Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the vertical adjusting means shown in Figure 2, taken along line IIIIII of Figure 1 Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in cross-section of the upper part of one of the vertical supporting racks shown in Figure 2;

Figure'5 is an enlarged transverse;'cross-sectional view taken along line V-'-V' of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlargedcnd elevationalview taken a n ine V I o Figure. t.

Fi ure '7 is an enlar ed:crossse ionalview taken along line VII-VII of Figure 1;

E'ig'ure8 is an enlarged elevational view similar to Figure 2, but showing the tray in its folded position rearwardly of the bed headboard and completely out of sight of the bed occupant;

t R Y v Philip G. Sarkus, -Donora, Pa; Application October 20, 195i, isa -s een 5 Claims. (01;.; 311-27)] "Figure I9 isa' vertical lcrossssectional view taken along line IXIXIo f-'Figurei8,f and, v I v Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentarylperspective view of the slide bolt locking means showing thepo'sition of the supporting parts when the. bed tray is in the operative position forwardly of the bed 7 v Referring meral I denotes a tray of any suitable metalor plastic material supported centrally on the bot.- tom thereof by an integral pedestal or base portion 2 which forms a verticalextension'of an angular rod 3 having a supporting bracket 4 intermediatethe rod and tray for additional support of the tray. Rod 3 ispivotally connected to a link 5Vwhich in turn is pivotally connected to a telescoping rod 6 formed of telescoping parts 6a and 627. Part 61) has lonigtudinallyextending grooves into vwhich are guided the ends of across pin 60 which extend through telescoping part 6a as shown more clearly in Figure 5. Thus the telescoping rod 6 may be extended or shortened as desired to move the tray away from or toward the bed occupant. The othenend of rod 6 is pivotally mounted on a horizontally slidable rod or bolt 8 which has an integral "pin 9 which is guided by a groove, I0 formed in a slide bolt casing or housing ll. Casing .llv is rigidly secured to a vertically adjustable support l2 having vertically extending grooves through which there extend racks l3 having lower inwardly bent integral end portions ['31) and upper inwardly bent separate end portions which are secured by screws M or other suitable fastening "means to the rear surface of .the headboard B of the bed.

Figure shows the vertical adjusting means for support l2 which comprises slidable rods or pawl 15 to which are secured wings or ears l6 having end portions through which there extends screws l1 partly surrounded by a helical spring l8. Outwardly'struck ear portions 12a of housing I I serve as guides for rods [5. Thus it will be seen that the occupant may extend his hand behind the headboardand grasp the, ears [6 and push them together against the action of spring [8 and in sq: doing unseat the ends of rods I5 from rack teeth 13a in which they are seated. Upon such withdrawal of the rods l5, theslide bolt casing or housing Il may be selectively moved to any desired vertical position so that upon release of the wing s l6, rods l5 are seated in a newpair of rack teeth 1311, thus providing the bed tray with a wid an e. of er a a s me s v In operati When the ed tray i in. the 0perative position shown in Figure 1,v that is, in a horizontal position forwardly of the occupant of --the bed and-overhanging the mattress, the tray I more particularly to Figure l; in-

and lateral offset as shown to the right of Figures.

1 and 2 into which pin 9 is guided and held as shown more clearly in Figure 10.'Pin 9' has a horizontally extending wing portion at the top thereof which is engageable against the vertical wall of support 12 so as to accurately and rigidly support rod 8 in such position that the tray I will be in ahorizont'al position. I

When the tray is no longer needed, it maybe moved out of sight-of the bed occupant, that'is, rearwardly of the headboard, by -'swinging tray I through an angle of 270 to'the dash-and-dot line position shown in Figure 1 by Virtue of the connetting link 5. Thereafter, upon removal of pin '20 from theregistering'slots in housing II and bolt 8, it will be possible to moverod' Btowards the occupant, then vertically upwardly to enable *pin' 19 to move away from the righthand ofiset of groove I through an angle of 90 to a position so. that it will beslidable' horizontally throughout "the length of groove Ill. Rod 6 is then 'pivotally moved in a vertical plane, through an angle of 270 to the collapsed position shown in Figure 8. When in this position, the angular rod 3 may be supported by a supporting bracket or hanger l2b extending from support l2. Groove It has a cutout at the left hand end thereof as" shown in Figure 8 for allowing the tray to be lifted from 'the'support or hanger l2b. Thus when the tray support is collapsed to the position" shown in Figure'8, the tray will extend vertically behind the headboard B and thus'it, as well as the supporting means, will be completely out of sight. 'Of course, when the occupant desires a tray, he will reach his hand rearwardly of the head board and will move the tray and supporting as semb'ly' in the opposite sequenceg'of that'described soas to move the tray from the position shown'in Figure'S to that shown in Figure l. If desired, the portion of rod 3'near link may be made extendible by providing telescoping parts therefor.

Thus it will' be seen that I have provided a highly efficient, swingable bed traysupport which allows adj ustment of. a bed tray horizontally as able mounting means mounted on the rear sur face of said headboard and including a horiswingably mounted in a horizontal plane as well as in a vertical plane in a manner so that it may be moved to the rear of the headboard completely out of sight.

'2. A swingable bed tray mounting for support 7 on the rear surface of the headboard of a bed,

well as vertically to'a'wide variety of positions forwardly of the'bed, and which mounting'is so constructed as to enable swinging of the bed tray to a position rearwardly'of the headboard withoutthe necessity of extra clearance either alongside the'bed or behind the bed with respect toadjoining walls, and which support is collapsib'le to occupy a position rearwardly of the headboard and completely out'of sight when not in use;

While I have illustrated and described a .certain specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention andw-ithin the scope of the following claims. if. I l

I claim; I l I 1. In combination with abedheadboard, swing said mounting comprising slide bolt means within a housing including a pin-and-slot connection for enabling the. bolt to be turned about its axis and to be slidably' moved longitudinally of the housing, a rod pivotallymounted on angend of said bolt, and a second jr'od pivotally mounted on the opposite end ofsaid first mentioned rod, and a tray' supported by said second rod, and

connecting means between said first andsecond rod to enable pivotal'movement of sa'id'second "r'o'd throughout an angle of 270, said first rod being pivotally movable with respect to saidbolt throughout an angle of about 270, whereby said tray, may be moved from a'horizontal'position forwardly of a bed to a vertical position "rearwardly of the headboard of said bed. C V

f "31' Apparatus as recited in claim 2, together with means for vertically adjusting the position of said housing with respect to said headboard andjwherein said" first rod includes telescoping parts for enablingadjustable movement of the tray toward or away'f'rom the head board when in the horizontal position'forwardly of the bed.

4."Means for adjustably mounting a traywith respect to the headboard of a bed, comprising a housing which is attachable to the rear surface of the headboard and having 'a slotted guideway in which is slidably mounted a slide bolt having anintegral pin adapted to be guided'by the slot formed in said guideway,1said groove extending ihoriaontally and having a vertical position, an

armipivotally connected to one end oi? said bolt, a

link connected tothe opposite end'oisaid arm,

a second arm pivotally connected to saidflink, and a tray supported by' said' second arm and movable through an angle 015270? when in the horizontal position and, throughan angle of 270 when in a vertical plane" through pivotal movement of said armsandlihk.

.5, Apparatus as recited in claim 4,; together with rack means. extending through said guideway for attachment to the rear surface of the bed headboard, and a pairofj inwardly movable rods,

whose extreme ends are :engageable' in'igrooves of said rack means to enable, vertical adjustment of said guideway with respect to said rack means for adjusting the vertical positionjof the tray when 60 jswung to the. operative position. n

' PHILIP G1 .SARKUS. A v EFEBENQE E The tollowinifreferences are of :I r ecord in the fileofthis patentg'. Y if] v' UNITEDsTATEs PATENTS V Number I I 

